Volume 4: Roguelikes/Brave x Junction
When I first started this column, I thought I’d stick squarely to first-person dungeon-crawlers, or DRPGs. But this month, a different kind of game caught my eye, and I couldn’t leave it alone. The problem is there isn’t really a dungeon to explore, although this game leans on other genre trappings, like first-person perspective in combat, classic monster types (dog kobolds are a Wizardry sicko tell), and aesthetic tropes (for better and worse). Roguelike RPGs are a different breed though, especially since you tend to just progress across a path of node-like “stages” instead of doing any kind of exploration outside of combat.
I think this month will simply be a rare exception. Roguelikes in general occupy an increasingly crowded space, and dealing with their “you die until you make the meta numbers go up” stuff gets more annoying the more developers lean on it. I understand the appeal, but in games that just have turn-based combat anyway I’d prefer to just have the numbers up front. It’s not like the roguelike part is what drew me to this month’s subject, anyway. It was actually the blackjack.
Brave x Junction isn’t just a roguelike RPG about fighting monsters, mitigating damage, and surviving by the skin of your teeth. It’s about doing so with the power of the only gambling-adjacent card game I have any fun with. There’s something about the risk/reward simplicity and brisk pace that draws me to blackjack, and I was intrigued by having it as the driving force of a combat system. It also helps this game is made by Rideon, developer of some of my favorite low-ish budget RPGs, namely Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom and Adventure Bar Labyrinth. These folks know how to engineer a simple, but effective grind loop that makes doing the simple stuff fun.
My experience here is only based on a Steam demo, which covers all of one dungeon, so there isn’t a ton to get into. But I played enough to understand what Brave x Junction has to offer, most importantly the ways in which it modifies the blackjack basics to make RNG less of an oppressive force. The most obvious part is making each turn its own hand, rather than a pass/fail situation. You have enough HP to take a few hits before you have anything to worry about, but things go further in feeling less like you’re at the mercy of the house (dungeon?).
For starters, at least in the beginning, you and the enemies don’t have the same “bust” threshold. You always have a limit of 21, but weaker monsters cap off much earlier. A blackjack fight to the death against a slime isn’t as scary when it can’t draw higher than 17. This lessened pressure is offset by a turn timer, although you can turn it off at the expense of better rewards.
There’s also a “stock” function, which basically lets you cheat like you’re playing Tetris. You can hold a card for later, then swap it out at your convenience. It’s especially helpful in more dire situations, such as when a boss readies a special attack that blows their damage up into a scary, red number! Even if you do get smoked, losing doesn’t set you back further than the top of the floor you’re on, nor does it take away stuff you’ve earned.
Finally, you get special abilities that can help you out in a pinch, such as spending a few MP if you have a diamond card in your hand to get a shield as strong as its number value. If it feels like you’re about to blow a hand either way, you can at least raise a shield to absorb some of the damage. Equipment and items round things out, making a concept that sounds like it could be perhaps too simple and frustrating something more dynamic. And it isn’t nearly as out of control as something like Balatro, which my already busy brain appreciates. Passive skills are also a factor, but there’s not enough space in the limited demo to get a feel for them, much less unlock more than one unless you really stall for time.
The biggest problem I can see right now is the main hero character looks like she was ripped right out of one of those RPG Maker smut games you see on Steam’s “New & Trending” tab when you don’t have any filters on. She’s wearing a comically stereotypical armor bikini, has a hair ribbon that looks like bunny ears, and her thighs spill over her tights in a way that would make Atelier Ryza’s character designer uncomfortable. I’m not a prude or whatever but it’s kind of weird next to the rest of the game’s relatively normal art. The punchline is Brave x Junction’s key art, which you can see on the pause screen. The way they have this woman… challenge the boundaries of a playing card is completely out of pocket:
Anyway, aside from someone forgetting to tell the character artist to relax a little bit, Brave x Junction seems like a fun time if you like fantasy RPGs and blackjack. It’s a specific kind of thing, but liking blackjack feels like a reasonable requirement for anyone looking into a game like this. It isn’t flashy and full of gimmicks that change how the game fundamentally works, opting instead for tweaks and abilities to give you a slight edge from the margins. My biggest concern is seeing how Brave x Junction can sustain itself over time, especially with the roguelike stuff baked in.
Until next time, dungeon delvers.
